Peru's environmental agency close to approving US$13bn worth of projects

Peru's environmental review agency Senace expects to approve 114 projects currently under evaluation involving US$13bn during the rest of 2024 and the first months of 2025.

The vast majority of the initiatives are in the mining sector and there are another 42 projects hoping to enter the Senace review system in 2025, the agency’s executive president Silvia Cuba told the Expocobre 2024 event in Lima. 

“Our main client is the mining sector. This year we have granted certifications for more than US$5bn in the sector,” said Cuba, including modifications to detailed environmental impact studies (MEIA-d’s) and technical sustainability reports (ITS’s), among others.

According to Cuba, this year five MEIA-d’s involving US$3.04bn, 37 ITS’s (US$1.99bnn) and 17 other environmental management instruments have been approved. Of these, copper projects stand out with three MEIA-d’s (US$2.14bn) and 18 ITS’s (1.87bn). The MEIA-d for the Antamina copper-zinc mine (US$2.0bn) was the main modification approved.

The official said there are 19 copper projects that will present MEIA-d’s in the short term, including modifications by Minera Condestable, Buenaventura (Julcani mine), Cerro Verde, Nexa (Atacocha and El Porvenir) and Anglo American.

“Several are very advanced and are in regions such as Cajamarca, parts of Lima, Ica, Arequipa, Junín, among other regions. The mining sector is a strategic ally for Peru but we have to continue building trust between the different agents involved,” Cuba said.